Washington Capitals Daily Report (09-27-15)

Heartbreaking news in the Caps family. Andi Lambert, wife of assistant Lane, passed away recently after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. Many members of the organization — players, coaches, officials — attended the funeral services in Cleveland on Saturday. For more on Andi Lambert’s courageous fight, read this from 2011: Barry Trotz on Andi Lambert: ‘She was always others first. She had a fire in her that was undeniable.

The Washington Capitals returned to the ice at Kettler this morning (Sunday), after taking a break Friday and Saturday. The team continued training camp sessions as well as began preparations for the game against the Islanders Monday night at the Barclay Center. The Capitals will complete their four-consecutive road pre-season games in Raleigh on Wednesday night, before returning home to Verizon Center Friday night to take on the Bruins. The complete pre-season and regular season schedule can be found here.

Sunday practice (Photo: @mags74)

48-hour schedule

Morning Skate
Practice lines for the morning skate included:

Offensive lines
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Johansson-Burakovsky-Williams
Chimera-Latta-Wilson
Laich-Roy-Beagle

Defensive Pairings
Chorney-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orlov-Schmidt

Capitals @ Islanders, Monday, 7:00 PM
The Capitals will play their fourth of seven preseason games when they head to Brooklyn Monday afternoon to take on the New York Islanders Monday night. Coach Trotz stated to the media last week that he will begin to bring together probable opening night lineups from this point forward. This game has not been designated as a 3-on-3 Overtime test game, so unless required by score, there will be no 3-on-3 overtime period tomorrow night. The next test game for the Capitals is slated for this Friday, October 2nd, when the Capitals host the Boston Bruins. A full schedule of the designated test games game be found here.

Ovi-Holtby-Kuzy Sunday Pactice (Photo: @bamitsbrittney93)

Lucky fan gets a stick from Justin Williams

Roster Management
Sunday mornings roster stood at 39 players, with additional roster moves to take place at anytime, Monday or Tuesday.

Trotz said Caps might make more cuts tomorrow, but most likely next round will be Tuesday. No more en masse, just a few here and there.

News and Notes
From Isabelle Khurshudyan, Johansson (back) and Latta (lower body) but practiced Sunday. Trotz had said the plan was for Johansson to play in preseason game against the Islanders.

[UPDATE] Trotz said Johansson and Latta are in the same boat injury-wise. Issues still nagging, not expected to play Monday at NYI.

Marcus Johansson said back injury is “something that’s been going on for a bit,” but is feeling better every day.

Contest: Guess the game, period and minute of period (for tie-breaker purposes) of Alex Ovechkin’s 500th goal, and win an Alex Ovechkin Bobblehead and NoVa Caps T-shirt. You can enter your guess here.

For a recap of the weekly news from around the NHL, you can read about that in the NoVa Caps weekly rewind here.

The Washington Capitals 2015-2016 Media Guide is now available. You can download a PDF of the guide right here.

As per Isabelle Khurshudyan, Brooks Laich’s nameplate says “LAich,” most definitely not an accident and a reference to his famous fiancée. Heard T-shirts might be coming

Latest Stories
Johansson, Latta skate, but won’t play Monday because of injuries (WaPo)
Andi Lambert, wife of Capitals assistant Lane Lambert, dies at 45 (WaPo)
Andre Burakovsky still adjusting to being back at center (WaPo)
Capitals trying to be more defensive in three-on-three OT (WaPo)
Hobbs back with Pats after strong NHL camp (Global News)
Can Alex Ovechkin finally ignite T.J. Oshie’s offense with Capitals? (Yahoo)
Forward Derek Roy is making himself at home on a team he hopes to join (WaPo)
Backup goaltender battle between Peters, Grubauer plays out in Boston (WaPo)
Back with the Capitals again, Chris Bourque still chasing ‘the ultimate goal’ (WaPo)
New Capital Justin Williams: ‘I’m not a savior by any means of the word’ (WaPo)
Capitals-Bruins pregame notes: Johansson sidelined with minor injury, cuts coming (WaPo)
What the Capitals learned from their first three-on-three OT experience (WaPo)
Postgame notes: Wilson, Roy find the net in Capitals’ preseason opener (WaPo)
In scrimmages and preseason games, Capitals testing lines and pairs (WaPo)
Andre Burakovsky to start at center (WaPo)
MacLellan, Trotz: Third-line center, depth defense among camp battles to watch (WaPo)
Nicklas Backstrom on playing in season opener: ‘I don’t know.’ (WaPo)